Synopsis
Lynne Stopkewich is a Canadian director familiar to the Korean audience for her debut feature Kissed, a film about necrophilia. Molly Parker, who starred in Kissed as Sandra, assistant to a mortician who feels a strong attraction to the dead, returns in Suspicious River as Leila, a receptionist at an off-the-beaten-track motel, who also offers male customers sex for the same price as the room. Stuck in a dull marriage, Leila collects her extra earnings in a small box. (The film never explains why she saves the money in the box.) One day, Leila meets Gary at the motel and has sex with him. A sadist, Gary sexually humiliates Leila, and the latter begins to suspect that Gary is not just another passer-by but tied to her in destiny. The film becomes labyrinthine as the story gets intertwined with the murder of Leila? mother years back. Although Stopkewich described the film as "soft and lukewarm" Suspicious River falls deeper into the dismal abyss than Kissed. The mood of the film recalls the gloomy mood in David Lynch? Blue Velvet. (KIM Hyung-seok)